Massachusetts Homeowners Insurance

By Jon Merwin, Founder and CEO

Home · Condo · Flood · Umbrella · Second homes · Massachusetts

If you know us from a home in New Hampshire, you may not realize we can insure your Massachusetts home too. Portsmouth Atlantic Insurance is an independent agency founded in 2005 and licensed in 10 states, including Massachusetts. We don’t work for one insurance company: we compare 40+ carriers, show you what each policy covers, and re-shop it when your renewal goes up. We are New Hampshire’s highest-rated agency on Google, with 1,000+ Google reviews and over 2,000 testimonials.

Do you have to carry home insurance in Massachusetts?

No law requires it, but your lender almost certainly will. The Massachusetts Division of Insurance’s Understanding Home Insurance guide says a lender may require you to buy and keep insurance on the home, but it cannot require you to use a particular insurer and cannot require you to insure the home for more than the replacement cost of the dwelling.

Insure to rebuild cost, not market value

The Division says your dwelling limit should be high enough to rebuild at today’s labor and material costs, and that this can be very different from market value; its example is a home that sells for $300,000 but costs $600,000 to replace. Older Massachusetts homes with plaster walls, slate roofs or custom millwork are where we see the biggest gaps.

Under-insuring also has a penalty. The Division explains that many insurers require you to insure for at least 80% of replacement cost, and some require 100%. If you fall below the requirement, a partial loss is paid in proportion: in its example, a home that should carry $160,000 but carries $120,000 gets 75% of a $40,000 claim, and the owner pays the remaining $10,000. We review your limit every renewal.

What a typical Massachusetts policy includes

According to the Division’s guide, common starting points on a standard policy are:

• Other structures such as sheds, barns and detached garages: usually 10% of the dwelling limit.
• Personal property: usually a percentage, for example 50%, of the dwelling limit. Most policies cover contents at actual cash value unless you add replacement cost.
• Loss of use (additional living expenses): usually 20% of the dwelling limit.
• Personal liability: usually $100,000; we often recommend more, with a personal umbrella on top.
• Medical payments to others: typically $1,000.
• Special limits on silverware, computers, guns, money, antiques and jewelry, which may need to be scheduled.

The guide also describes useful endorsements: extended replacement cost (typically 20% or 25% above the dwelling limit), contents replacement cost, ordinance or law coverage for code upgrades, inflation guard, scheduled personal property, and a secondary premises endorsement, since a summer home is not typically covered by the policy on your main house. See Massachusetts second-home insurance.

Wind and hurricane deductibles

The Division says that as insurers became more aware of windstorm costs in parts of Massachusetts, many implemented mandatory wind loss deductibles, set as a fixed dollar amount or a percentage based on the dwelling limit and the home’s proximity to the coastline. Its example: a 5% wind deductible on a $200,000 dwelling limit means you pay the first $10,000 of covered wind damage. The Division’s hurricane guidance puts typical hurricane deductibles at 1% to 5% of insured value. We convert every option to dollars before you choose.

Flood is a separate policy

The Division states plainly that standard home insurance does not cover flood damage, that your lender will require flood insurance if the home is in a flood plain, and that you shouldn’t assume a home outside a designated flood plain will never flood.

• NFIP through Selective. We write National Flood Insurance Program policies through Selective, a Write Your Own carrier. The NFIP covers up to $250,000 for the building and $100,000 for contents. New policies generally have a 30-day waiting period (see FloodSmart), so buy before storm season, not during it.
• Private flood. When a home costs more than the NFIP building limit to rebuild, or you want coverage the NFIP leaves out, we compare Flow Flood, Neptune Flood, Beyond Floods, The Flood Insurance Agency, CatCoverage and Aon Edge. Each one decides address by address.
• Elevation certificates. If you have one, send it. If the house has been raised or has flood vents, it can make a real difference in how flood carriers rate it.

Sewer and drain backup is a separate add-on, not flood. See our flood insurance overview and check your address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center.

Coastal and high-value homes

Under about $2 million, most of our 40+ carriers are in play. Andover writes up to about $2.25 million in Massachusetts, sometimes higher with underwriting approval. Around $2 million to $3 million, Hanover is among the carriers we compare. Openly and National General write up to about $5 million. Liberty Mutual may also be an option for Massachusetts homes up to $4 million in dwelling coverage, subject to underwriting approval above that. Cincinnati and Chubb both write homes at any dwelling limit, so we quote both. Whatever the size, we build the dwelling limit around the cost to rebuild, not the market value, and we look at extended or guaranteed replacement cost where a carrier offers it.

For homes on the water or well above average value, a standard policy can leave gaps: replacement cost caps, low limits on jewelry and art, or no coverage for a guest house. See coastal Massachusetts high-value home insurance and high-value home insurance.

If you’ve been turned down or non-renewed

Roof age, past claims or a coastal address can get a home declined. The Division’s guide says a non-renewal generally requires 45 days’ written notice before expiration, and that once a policy has been in force 60 days it can be cancelled mid-term only for limited reasons under Massachusetts law, such as nonpayment, fraud or physical changes that make the property uninsurable. If no standard carrier will write the home, the Massachusetts FAIR Plan is the market of last resort, and we will put it side by side with anything else available.

Condos, condexes, rentals and renters

Condo owners need an HO-6 matched to the association’s master policy, including loss assessment; see Massachusetts condo and condex insurance. If you rent out a home or condo, you need a dwelling or landlord policy, and we don’t charge fees on those either. Tenants need a renters policy; we shop renters coverage across our carriers, and Progressive Home is one of them, which we use for renters policies only.

What carriers ask about

The Division lists common underwriting factors: the size, location and condition of the home, distance to the nearest fire department and hydrant, protective devices such as burglar alarms and smoke detectors, and conditions such as pools, trampolines, certain dogs or old wiring. It also reminds owners to address lead paint as required by law, especially with children under six in the home. Tell us about these up front so we go to the carriers most likely to say yes.

Common coverage gaps we see in Massachusetts

• A dwelling limit based on the purchase price or assessed value instead of the cost to rebuild
• No water backup coverage on a house with a finished basement
• Personal property limits that have not kept up with what the household actually owns
• Liability limits on the home and auto that do not line up with an umbrella, or no umbrella at all
• No ordinance or law coverage on an older home that would need code upgrades after a loss
• A home insured below the 80% replacement cost requirement
• No flood policy because the home is outside a mapped flood zone

Most of these are straightforward to fix once someone reads the declarations pages side by side, and that is the first thing we do in a review.

How a Massachusetts home quote works

• Tell us about the house: address, year built, square footage, roof age and updates to wiring, plumbing and heating.
• Send your current declarations page so we can compare like for like and point out limits that look short.
• We shop the carriers that fit and lay the options out side by side, with the differences in coverage, deductibles and storm terms, not just price.
• You choose, and we handle the switch, including your mortgage company and the effective date, so there is no gap.

Massachusetts town guides

We have town guides for Newburyport, Salisbury, Gloucester, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, Salem, Brookline, Hingham, Cohasset, Hull, Scituate, Marshfield, Duxbury, Plymouth, Falmouth, Chatham, Nantucket and Edgartown. See all towns on our service areas page. We also have guides for Ipswich, Rockport, Swampscott, Beverly, Amesbury, Newbury, Haverhill and Methuen. On the North Shore, we also have guides for Danvers, Nahant, Essex, Wenham, Lynnfield, Topsfield, Hamilton, Middleton and Boxford. On the North Shore and just north of Boston, we also have guides for Peabody, Lynn, Saugus, Revere and Winthrop. West of Boston, we also have guides for Weston, Wellesley, Dover, Needham, Sudbury, Wayland, Sherborn, Medfield, Westwood, Concord, Lincoln and Carlisle, and to the northwest for Lexington, Belmont and Winchester. Closer in, see Newton; farther west, Hopkinton; south of Boston, Milton and Sharon; and north of Boston, Andover.

Serving Massachusetts from Portsmouth, NH

We do not have a Massachusetts office. Our office is at 601 Islington St, Unit 206, Portsmouth, NH 03801, and we work with Massachusetts homeowners by phone, email and online. Call (603) 431-4020.

Sources

• Massachusetts Division of Insurance, Understanding Home Insurance
• Massachusetts Division of Insurance, hurricane preparedness
• Massachusetts FAIR Plan
• FEMA Flood Map Service Center
• FloodSmart, buying a flood policy

Get a quote

Tell us about the property and we will compare carriers and follow up with options. Prefer to talk? Call (603) 431-4020.

Frequently asked questions

Can you insure my Massachusetts home if you’re in New Hampshire?

Yes. We are licensed in Massachusetts and insure Massachusetts homes from our Portsmouth, NH office by phone, email and online. We do not have a Massachusetts office.

Is home insurance required in Massachusetts?

No law requires it, but your lender will. The Division of Insurance says a lender cannot require a particular insurer or a limit above the dwelling’s replacement cost.

How do wind deductibles work in Massachusetts?

Many insurers apply mandatory wind deductibles, as a fixed dollar amount or a percentage of the dwelling limit based on proximity to the coast. A 5% deductible on a $200,000 dwelling limit means the first $10,000 of covered wind damage is yours. For homes near the water, see our guide to coastal home insurance in Massachusetts.

Does homeowners insurance cover flood in Massachusetts?

No. We write NFIP flood through Selective and compare private flood from Flow Flood, Neptune Flood, Beyond Floods, The Flood Insurance Agency, CatCoverage and Aon Edge.

Do you charge fees?

No. We don’t charge fees on any policy we write, including homeowners, condo, renters, landlord, dwelling and auto.